1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to the field of manufactured powdered metal parts, and, in particular, to devices and methods for affixing powdered metal parts to other mechanical parts, and methods of making and use thereof.
2. Background of the Technology
The ability to construct devices from powdered metal materials has many advantages. Powdered metal parts can be molded precisely, allowing strict tolerance compliance in using the parts in assemblies. The molding process allows design of complex parts because minimal or no additional machining is required to bring the parts within tolerance.
Most powdered metal parts are cured through a sintering process which includes heating of the powdered metal part to a temperature below melting but high enough to foster adherence of the powdered metal particles to one another. Sintering is generally used to increase the strength of a part, but sintering may aggravate the magnetic properties of a powdered metal part, making the process undesirable for certain applications, including for use as magnetic flux concentrators in electric motors.